UN report<\/a>\u00a0found that nearly 49 percent of borewells in Kabul are dry, while others are functioning at only 60 percent efficiency.<\/p>\nThe water crisis, Mayar said, exposes the divide between the city\u2019s rich and poor. \u201cWealthier residents can afford to drill deeper boreholes, further limiting access for the poorest,\u201d he said. \u201cThe crisis affects the poorest first.\u201d<\/p>\n
The signs of this divide are evident in longer lines outside public water taps or private water takers, says Abdulhadi Achakzai, director at the Environmental Protection Trainings and Development Organization (EPTDO), a Kabul-based climate protection NGO.<\/p>\n
Poorer residents, often children, are forced to continually search for sources of water.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery evening, even late at night, when I am returning home from work, I see young children with small cans in their hands looking for water \u2026 they look hopeless, navigating life collecting water for their homes rather than studying or learning,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Additionally, Sadid said, Kabul\u2019s already depleted water resources were being exploited by the \u201cover 500 beverage and mineral water companies\u201d operating in the capital city,\u201d all of which are using Kabul\u2019s groundwater\u201d. Alokozay, a popular Afghan soft drinks company, alone extracts nearly one billion litres (256 million gallons) of water over a year \u2014 2.5 million litres (660,000 gallons) a day \u2014 according to Sadid\u2019s calculations.<\/p>\n
Al Jazeera sent Alokozay questions about its water extraction on June 21, but has yet to receive a response.<\/p>\n
Kabul, Sadid said, also had more than 400 hectares (9,884 acres) of green houses to grow vegetables, which suck up 4 billion litres (1.05 billion gallons) of water every year, according to his calculations. \u201cThe list [of entities using Kabul water] is long,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u2018Repeated droughts, early snowmelt and reduced snowfall\u2019<\/p>\n
The water shortage is further compounded by climate change. Recent years have seen a significant reduction in precipitation across the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe three rivers \u2014 Kabul river, Paghman river and Logar river\u2014that replenish Kabul\u2019s groundwater rely heavily on snow and glacier meltwater from the Hindu Kush mountains,\u201d the Mercy Corps report noted. \u201cHowever, between October 2023 to January 2024, Afghanistan only received only 45 to 60 percent of the average precipitation during the peak winter season compared to previous years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mayar, the former lecturer at Kabul Polytechnic University, said that while it was difficult to quantify exactly how much of the crisis was caused by climate change, extreme weather events had only added to Kabul\u2019s woes.<\/p>\n
\u201cClimate-related events such as repeated droughts, early snowmelts, and reduced snowfall have clearly diminished groundwater recharge opportunities,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Additionally, increased air temperature has led to greater evaporation, raising agricultural water consumption, said Sadid from the Afghanistan Water and Environment Professionals Network.<\/p>\n
While several provinces have experienced water scarcity, particularly within agrarian communities, Kabul remains the worst affected due to its growing population.<\/p>\n
Decades of conflict<\/p>\n
Sadid argued Kabul\u2019s crisis runs deeper than the impact of climate change, compounded by years of war, weak governance, and sanctions on the aid-dependent country.<\/p>\n
Much of the funds channelled into the country were diverted to security for the first two decades of the century. Since the Taliban\u2019s return to power in 2021, funding has been used to tackle an escalating humanitarian crisis. Western sanctions have also significantly stymied development projects that could have helped Kabul better manage the current water crisis.<\/p>\n
As a result, authorities have struggled with the maintenance of pipelines, canals and dams \u2014 including basic tasks like de-sedimentation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe crisis is already beyond the capacity of the current de facto authorities,\u201d Mayar said, referring to the Taliban. \u201cIn well-managed cities, such impacts are mitigated through robust water governance and infrastructure. Kabul lacks such capacity, and the current authorities are unable to address the problem without external support,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
As a result, environmental resilience projects have taken a backseat.<\/p>\n
\u201cSeveral planned initiatives, including projects for artificial groundwater recharge, were suspended following the Taliban takeover,\u201d Mayar pointed out. \u201cSanctions continue to restrict organisations and donors from funding and implementing essential water-related projects in Afghanistan,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Sadid pointed out one example: An Awater supply project -funded by the German Development bank KfW, along with European agencies \u2013 could have supplied 44 billion litres (11 billion gallons) of water annually to parts of Kabul from Logar aquifers.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut currently this project has been suspended,\u201d he said, even though two-thirds of the initiative was already completed when the government of former President Ashraf Ghani collapsed in 2021.<\/p>\n
Similarly, India and the Ghani government had signed an agreement in 2021 for the construction of the Shah-toot dam on the Kabul River. Once completed, the dam could supply water to large parts of Kabul, Sadid said, \u201cbut its fate is uncertain now.\u201d<\/p>\n
What can be done to address the water crisis?<\/p>\n
Experts recommend the development of the city\u2019s water infrastructure as the starting point to address the crisis.<\/p>\n
\u201cArtificial groundwater recharge and the development of basic water infrastructure around the city are urgently needed. Once these foundations are in place, a citywide water supply network can gradually be developed,\u201d Mayar recommended.<\/p>\n
Achakzai agreed that building infrastructure and its maintenance were key elements of any fix.<\/p>\n
\u201cAside from introducing new pipelines to the city from nearby rivers, such as in Panjshir, there needs to be an effort to recharge underground aquifers with constructions of check dams and water reservoirs,\u201d he said, adding that these structures will also facilitate rainwater harvesting and groundwater replenishment.<\/p>\n
\u201c[The] Afghan government needs to renew ageing water pipes and systems. Modernising infrastructure will improve efficiency and reduce water loss,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Yet all of that is made harder by Afghanistan\u2019s global isolation and the sanctions regime it is under, Achakzai said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSanctions restrict Afghanistan\u2019s access to essential resources, technology, and funding needed for water infrastructure development and maintenance,\u201d he said. This, in turn, reduces agricultural productivity, and increases hunger and economic hardship, forcing communities to migrate, he warned.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kabul, a city of over six million people, could become the first modern city to run out of…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":41908,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[7574,3774,33025,746,337,3095,80,159,31132,67,132,68,527],"class_list":{"0":"post-41907","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-afghanistan","9":"tag-asia","10":"tag-climate-crisis","11":"tag-environment","12":"tag-explainer","13":"tag-features","14":"tag-politics","15":"tag-science","16":"tag-taliban","17":"tag-united-states","18":"tag-unitedstates","19":"tag-us","20":"tag-water"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114803166647933598","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41907","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41907"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41907\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41908"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41907"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41907"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41907"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}